Light in the Abyss
by Suki87
Summary: Ino has been torn up and beat down my war. But can the love of her EX make it all better? Can he show her the way to be free?


**Me: A little dark for my tastes, but I as depressed so HERE YA GO**

**Shikamaru: At least it has a good ending**

**Me: I wanted to make it longer, but i have writers block. Trying to get over it...**

**Shikamaru: There might be another chapter or something...**

**Me: If I want!**

Ino sighed for the Nth time that night. It was midnight on a Saturday night, all her friends from the party she was at were pasted out, and for once she was glad she gave up drinking last year. She sighed again and pulled her short hair into its usual pony tail, grabbing her keys and her jacket. She climbed over the bodies of friends and people she couldn't recognize, and made her way to the door.

Looking back she saw Naruto sitting up on his couch. "Ino, had fun?"

Ino glared at him, guessing he was drunker than a depressed emo that lost their razor. "Yea Naruto, a shit load. Thanks for getting those 5 kegs."

"No problem!" he yelled, falling back off the couch, onto the floor, and successfully passing out for the third time that night.

Ino rolled her eyes and walked out the door, making sure to slam it loud enough so that half the drunks in the apartment would wake up and throw up. Oh, how she hated them. They couldn't drive home, walk home, or get up without hurting them selves in some way, physically or mentally.

The war with the other countries had taken its toll on everyone. Soldiers became belligerent drunks, normal people committed suicide because they were afraid to be killed by a gun or stabbed by a knife, and leaders feared that they were on top of the hit list. Because they were. Only the strongest in the country were willing to go and fight, were willing to die, and the only reason was to protect the ones that loved them and they ones they loved.

Since the war started, everything was harder. Trading was cut off the countries, food was in short supply, and nothing seemed good anymore. Even the weather was showing its disapproval of the war. The sun never shown in their town anymore, just the cold Fall rain, and even snow. It was never pleasant anymore.

Ino used to be on one of the front lines. She was great, able to enter the mind of those in power of other countries. Not literally, but she knew what they wanted. She was trained in Psychology and taken to the front lines.

That was until she saw one of her best friends die in battle.

Hinata was done, and so was Neji's reason to fight. With them gone an entire flank of the army was dispatched, and some were left behind.

Ino wasn't left behind, but she quit, and that was that.

She walked down the stairs and onto the cold, wet side walk. It must have rained during the party, that or god was so sad that he cried to death. Okay, not the latter, but it was possible. Right? She pulled her leather jacket over her torso. It fit her perfectly. It wasn't one of those huge ones that made her look bulgy. No, it was tight and slim, fitting her nicely and even showing off a bit or her curvy figure, making a walking by drunk grin pervertedly at her.

It also hid her gun into her jeans, so that those same drunks didn't that with one wrong move they could be dead.

Ino sighed again as another craving hit her, she needed caffeine. And she needed it soon, or she would loose it. It was her addiction. Her life. Her sanity. And it kept her from grabbing what she could, and skipping out of town.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a lighter and her other addiction. A pack of cigarettes. Putting the stick to her lips and raising her flame, she took a long drag and blew it out through her nose. It filled her lungs and made her head spin for a second, but she came back to earth and took another drag, sighing it out.

After a left, and a right, she reached a McDonalds. It was crappy, and a little on the poor side, due to poor business, but it had coffee and that was all she cared for. She didn't bother putting out her cigarette as she walked in. Only half of it was lit, making the other half seem like the black abyss. As if, when you walked in, you were trapped until the light came to save you.

She smirked a bit as she saw a black haired girl with a cig of her own leaning against the counter, flipping boredly through a Seventeen magazine. She looked up at Ino only for a second, but her eyes lingered on Ino's form for a bit, before going back to her reading.

Taking a closer look, Ino noticed that she was staring at a picture of a perfectly tanned man and a soaking wet women, in only a white top and short red shorts on the page.

_Bi_, Ino thought to herself.

Over the years she had caught an amazing ability to pick up someone's sexuality, personality, and overall mental capability by a few glances. She was able to enter other's minds, after all.

Ino smirked a bit at the girl, her grin widening when she girl tore her eyes away from the page to look at her chest. "Don't you want to take my order?"

"Do I." The girl licked her lips and looked up at Ino, straightening her back and trying to look attractive. Almost failing miserably, but a horny teenage boy might fall for it. "What'll you have?"

"Coffee, hot, steaming, plenty of foam." Ino said, licking her lips back. She pulled money out of her pocket, already knowing it would be the perfect amount.

The girl simply nodded and got to work on the order, not caring about the money that was not so neatly laying out on the counter.

"Still the tease, I see."

Ino stiffened at the voice that came from behind her. She knew that voice and she knew who it was. She put her finished cigarette on the counter and quickly grabbed a new one from the pack. She lit it and took 3 whole, long drags, trying to calm herself down.

"Here." The girl put the steamy cup on the counter and turned her attention back to her book, her interest in Ino already depleting.

"I didn't know you would be one to smoke, Ino."

"I didn't know you would be the one to stalk, Sakura."

Ino turned and saw her pink haired ex-friend sitting at a booth, her own coffee in hand, and a super thin pair of Romani sun glasses covering only hair of her eyes. Her eyes were like Ino's. Darker, more hidden, no emotion passing through them. "Ino, you should know that I come here everyday at midnight to take my cousin home, right, Kari?"

"Right." The girl behind the counter gave her a thumbs up without even looking up.

Ino rolled her eyes. "No, I didn't know. Anything else you need to say?"

There was a long pause, Sakura opening and closing her mouth over and over again, like contemplating weather to say it or not.

Ino made a small grunt and sipped her coffee, then took another drag. "I thought so." She turned toward the door, but before she could take another step, Sakura's voice stopped her.

"He misses you, you know."

Ino stopped mid step, her eyes glazing over for a bit. "What did you say, forehead?"

"He misses you. Why did you leave him?"

"He cheated on me."

"Temari was just a friend of his."

"A friend that sleeps in the same bed as him. Naked. While he knew that I was working late that night at the hospital, with you."

"He thought you were cheating on him, too, you know."

"And I'm sure he regrets it, because I didn't. Who did he think it was, anyway?"

Sakura felt the heat rise to her cheeks and decided that hiding her face would be best. Lowering her head to look at her coffee, she sighed. "That's not important."

Ino snickered. "He thought it was that stud Paramedic you liked, huh? What was his name? Tsunaki… Tsuyuku?"

"…………Ryo?"

Ino sweat dropped, having being caught. "I've been out of it for a while." She said, taking a huge gulp of her hot coffee. It burned her tongue and throat, sliding down to her stomach, where it heated her up from the core. Heat. It was what she really needed.

Now all she needed was something that could warm her heart.

"Yea, you've been out of it for a while. Say……3 years?"

"What happened when we were 15 has nothing to do with what is happening now."

"You sure? As I remember you quit your job at the hospital, you stopped studying, you started at the flower shop full time, and you left everything that was important to you behind, including me."

"How do you know you were important to me?"

"I was your first kiss."

"WHAT?!" Kari had her eyes shut tight and was giggling behind her hand. "You two…oh this is rich. I knew you were a lesbian, Sakura!"

Sakura looked at her with a raised brow and cocked her head to the side. "We were practicing our kissing. Did you're first kiss with a guy suck? I bet it did. Ours didn't."

Kari glared at her, and Sakura knew she was right. Ino spoke up this time, grinning at the girl. "Who are you to talk? Aren't you bi?"

"Bi? I have a boyfriend, you bimbo."

Smash. Ino felt her ego, her confidence, and her heart smash in two. She had never been wrong at judging people. She was always right about them, and now she was wrong. She was slipping. Her skill was running away from her and she just couldn't catch up.

It was like being in a bad dream. Where you're running down a hall way, after something you want, but the hallway got longer and longer, and you ended up losing what you wanted. Ino wouldn't be like that. She wouldn't lose to her own imagination.

"I have to go." She said, but Sakura stopped her by grabbing her arm. Ino didn't even see her move. She was losing it.

Sakura smiled sweetly at her and reached into Ino's pants. Ino and Kari both blushed at bit, but Kari gasped when Sakura pulled out a dull black pistol. "You wont be needing this anymore."

Ino grabbed it and put it back where it belonged. "You don't know what I need. I'm going home."

"While you're there, take a shower. You smell like cigarettes and cheap beer."

"I'll take note of that." Ino walked out of the fried food smelling building and started to walk home, not bothering to call a cab.

On the way back, pictures flashed through her head. Her and him, snuggling at night. Her making him breakfast in the morning. Them laughing at the mall. The dates that he would take her on whenever neither of them had work that day. All the times that she wished that he would propose already, because she **knew** that they were meant for each and how they would live happily ever after. But it all changed. She came home one night after a long day of work, hoping to have a good night of sex and a good morning. But when she got into the room that night, all she saw was her boyfriend and the Suna Queen, both asleep and completely naked.

Ino shook her head as she reached her home. She had to clear her mind. She took the last drag the cigarette had to offer and threw it on the ground, smashing it under her heel.

The small red bud disappeared, like so many other things. _But thinking about that would make me feel so emo right now…_

Ino sighed and hurried to her apartment. She took out her keys and went inside quickly, taking in the small security that it offered. It wasn't much, couch, TV, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, and a small table for 1 set up in the corner.

She walked over to the table and ran her finger across it. Inspecting her finger, she saw gray. Dust. How long had it been since she was last home anyway? A week? A Month? She didn't know. She slept where she could, ate until she ran out of money, and only came back for special reasons.

She always faced the wall when she ate now, because she used to face the room, and **he** would face the wall, and her. But now she couldn't look there anymore, not with the memories that** he** always brought back.

As long as she didn't ever have to do anything that involved anything about him again, she was happy.

"Hello, Ino."

Ino felt her heart rate quicken in her body. She could feel the blood pulsing through her veins when her worst fear came true, making the room suddenly hot and the air heavy. How many nightmares had she had about this? How many times had she woken up in a cold sweat, head pounding, heart beating out of her chest, light headed and wishing that whatever she just saw really was a dream? Too many damn times.

Ino felt her eyes burning with tears, though she forced them back. She felt her nails dig into her the worn out, under used wood, though she ignored the pain. She knew there was a layer of sweat covering her forehead.

This stress was taking her over.

And it hadn't even been 5 seconds.

"Ino, are you okay? Look, I know that this is way too sudden but I want to talk." His voice called out to her again. Why now?

Ino fumbled around with her pack of cigarettes in her pocket. She quickly lit one and sucked the lethal smoke into her lungs, loving the burn and sting they brought her. Her head fogged over all her emotions and she felt like she could breathe clearly again. "What do you want, Shikamaru?"

"Oh, you know, your love again."

"You cheated on me."

"You cheated on me."

"NO!" Ino whipped around, her cigarette forgotten on the table and her emotions bubbling over. "You were wrong. I never cheated on you." No, More like crashing over. Crashing and banging and trying to break down the wall Ino had built to keep them in. And her emotions broke it.

Tears spilled over her eyes as she looked in shock at the man in front of her. He changed. He wasn't the boy that he used to be when they still went out. No. Now he had muscles. Black pants and a leather jacket like hers.

It seemed like all they ever wore was black anymore. To celebrate the deaths of all their friends.

His hair was in its usually spiky pony tail, and Ino questioned if it would ever change.

Then Ino knew that she was showing too much, and her war face came back on. Her eyes darkened, and her face became as cold and hard and stone. Shikamaru noted the change and made his face softer, as if trying to calm her down. It failed.

"What are you doing in my apartment?" Ino crossed her arms over her chest and moved most of her weight to her right foot. They both knew it was an act, but it was a pretty damn good one.

Shikamaru took a step forward. "Ino, I want you to know that I'm sorry. And that I didn't mean it and that it was a mistake."

"Bullshit. Ho-"

"**I was drunk**." The words came so easily from him, but the emotion behind them made Ino stop and think. "I was drunk and the whole time I thought it was you. That night when you came in I saw blonde hair on the pillow and smiled, because I thought it was you. I didn't know what happened until I as sober. I got drunk that night because I thought you were with that bastard Ryo behind my back and I was drowning my pain.

"I regret it so much. Hurting You, Me, and Temari, I wish I had never done it. Temari showed up at our apartment that night looking for **you**! She wanted to know if you wanted to go to a bar and instead she got drunk with me. Ino, I still love you so much. I want you back. Please."

Ino was speechless. She had heard it all before. From Her's and Shikamaru's friends had all said the same story, because they heard it from Shika. She didn't know if it was true, but something about hearing it from him made her heart break. It was like there were tiny steel strings tied to her heart, and they were being pulled from all directions.

She couldn't take it.

"Please Ino, I need you."

Need. Did she need him? Sure, he was cute (no, now he was hot), strong, and a good guy. He knew everything about her and he knew just how to keep her emotions in check when they were around other people. He was her best friend, her lover, her life.

There was no way she wanted him back. No, she didn't _want_ him. She_ needed_ him. Badly. Everything had gotten worse since he left, and she needed him back. "I need you, too."

Ino saw the relief and happiness in his eyes. Though his mouth only twitched in a small grin, she knew he was hiding a huge smile. "Thank you, Ino. You have no idea how much I've wanted this."

Ino knew. She knew that they were still in love with each other. Everyone knew that. But it was dangerous to have connections in this war. That's how people were targeted. And now all she had to do w- _Screw It. I've gone three years without his sexy ass and I want to back._

Ino strode over to his and stood there, searching his eyes. They were clearer than ever, and she bet her's look somewhat the same at that point. They both leaned in with closed eyes and kissed long and hard. A kiss that they had both given up, thinking it was for the better. But actually having it was much better than anything either of them could imagine.

Ino was in love. She knew that.

Ino had her man back. She knew that.

Sakura was in the McDonalds, laughing with Ryo. She didn't know that.

But what she would never lose was the feeling that the string on her heart had been cut, and that she was finally free to live as she once had. "Shika, when you left, you left me in the dark. For three years I have been wondering around, trying to find my way through the darkness. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't walk without tripping, stumbling, and falling.

But now I see. You're my light, so please don't go out again."

"Ino, I wont leave. I love you."

"I love you, too, you crazy cheating bastard."

* * *

**Me: Glad I got that out of my system....**

**Ino: So am I**

**Shikamaru: Diddo...**

**Ino: -**grins- **Shikaaaa~~ You love me?**

**Shikamaru:** -blushes- **Yes...**

**Ino: Good!**

**Me: Well...i dunno about another chapter or something....maybe ill continue maybe i wont...It all depends on if I get Chipotle...**

**Ino: Please review if you liked it, didn't like it, or have any suggestions!!!**

**Shikamaru: You're happy again....**

**Ino: Not my fault...**

* * *


End file.
